


Watch your step

by mikhailosbitch



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: Gallavich Week 2017, M/M, alternate first meeting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-07 23:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,157
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11069103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mikhailosbitch/pseuds/mikhailosbitch
Summary: Ian is at Navy pier enjoying the sunrise





	Watch your step

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! So this is my work for this year's first Gallavich week Day 6.  
> So in fact I really didn't have the time to write something but I couldn't resist so now it is four am and I'm exhausted but happy. The fic is not that long since I just lack of time but I hope you like it!
> 
> Sorry for the mistakes, English isn't my first language.

It is the crack of dawn, the sunlight starting to crawl over the horizon to occupy the sky for the day. The rays are still weak, only barely illuminating the pier and it is weirdly calm for Chicago.

Ian is standing at the edge of the pier, staring into the distance, trying to focus on the line where the sky turns into water, dark blue meeting a lighter shade.

 

He can’t feel it. The energy buzzing through is body, desperately trying to get free but the pills he swallows every day keep it in their place, not allowing it to break out of the cage and fuck everything up. But that’s not it. Not today.

He doesn’t bounce off the walls anymore when he is manic. Not like he used to do.

But that doesn’t mean he can’t feel the uneasiness in his bones, the need to do something, anything. To clean the house, or make pancakes, or fix the light in the downstairs bathroom. All these things would cause either Fiona or Lip to wake up and they would come out of their rooms and stare at him with this weird expression on their faces, filled with sleep, and surprise, and _worry_ because he is shuffling through the house at three am. It makes Ian sick, that look. And now he isn’t even manic. He knows the feeling by now, the rush. Can tell when it is there and when it isn’t. And at the moment it isn’t there. He is not manic. For some reason he just can’t sleep and needs to get some fresh air

so he put his sneakers on and got his jacket and then he started wandering around.

That was a couple hours ago and he jumped on the L and came here. Now it is five in the morning and Ian is surprised he doesn’t see much more than a couple early souls trotting along the waves of Lake Michigan licking the beach, in a poor attempt of running.

 

And Ian stays where he is, focusing on the horizon where he can already see the edge of the rising sun, and breathes. It feels good. Calm, so different from his home that sometimes gets just too much.

 

The sun keeps going up and bathes the whole shore in orange and pink light and it is really fucking gay but he wants to take a picture because it is freaking beautiful.

He takes out his phone and and checks if there is any worried texts from his siblings but fortunately they aren’t. Well, Lip was partying last night and Fiona spent forever sitting over the accountings before she just gave up and decided to ask Lip the next day.

The camera doesn’t nearly capture the beauty of the situation in front of him but it still looks pretty amazing, even on the small screen of Ian’s phone.

The only thing that disturbs the image is the edge of the pier with the yachts poking into the left corner of the screen. Ian takes a step forward and most of the annoying pier disappears but there is still a little bit left so Ian steps forward again, and the next thing he knows is that he falls.

 

_Shit, this is gonna be cold_

Is all he  can think as he prepares himself for the cold water. It is the end of May so he won’t freeze to death but falling into the water is still not  something he planned on doing today.

 

But the expected splash of water and wetness covering his body never happens.

 

Instead he feels someone gripping tightly at his jacket, keeping him from falling off the pier.

Then he is pulled back, putting a good distance between him and the edge and the grip disappears.

“Jesus fuck, watch your step!”

Ian turns around and has to blink because the guy standing in front of him completely outshines the sunrise.

He has black hair and is pretty short but his bright blue eyes are staring up at him, intimidating and annoyed.

“Uhm thanks” he manages to get out but the guy just scoffs.

“Just don’t do shit like that again, not always gonna be someone there to catch you.”

“Mhm.” Ian is kinda distracted by his fucking luminous eyes still glaring at him and now his body is definitely buzzing. Not with mania but with a warm fuzzy feeling.

He knows that feeling as well. He has had it two times before. When he had thought that he was in love. Both times it had occurred after months of dating and hooking up.

And now this guy keeps him from taking an early bath and seems pissed as fuck but the fuzz runs through his veins and he feels kinda ridiculous. It is way stronger than the two times before which makes it even more ridiculous.

 

_Is this what falling in love feels like?_

The guy shoots him a weird look and Ian has the strange urge to grin.

But then he turns around and starts walking off and before Ian can stop himself he says “Wait!”

The guy stops. Ian half expects him to either ignore him or knock his teeth out but he just spins around and asks “What?!”

 

“Uhm” Ian stutters. Usually he is more than comfortable with talking to guys or just other people in general but now his brain is taking a little longer to provide the words he wants to get out.

“You… Can I get you a coffee? As a thanks for saving me?”

The guy looks at him like Ian is an alien and he feels totally stupid because he is sounding so gay right now and this guy doesn’t seem like the kind of person to wave a rainbow flag around, loudly protesting for equal rights for everybody regardless of their sexuality.

His gaze moves towards the guy’s hands and he sees FUCK U-UP tattooed on his knuckles.

Great. He was prevented from falling into the lake but now he is going to receive a beat down from the ridiculously hot guy that saved him. Kinda ironic.

But the ridiculously hot guy doesn’t take a swing at him but finally says “…okay.”

He sounds unsure but Ian is beaming. And he doesn’t care one bit that the guy probably only agreed because of the dark circles under his eyes and the promise of free coffee.

They start walking toward downtown since there must be some store that is open at 5 in the morning and Ian wonders what the hell the guy is doing at the pier that early.

But smalls steps. “So uhm, I’m Ian by the way.”

 

“Mickey.”

 

 

And now, if you ask Ian three months later, sitting on the couch of Mickey’s apartment with his sleeping boyfriends in his lap, if he fell in love with him the moment he saw him, his answer will be yes.

**Author's Note:**

> Well well ;)  
> Thank you so much for reading! I would love to know what you think about it!


End file.
